Biography:

While growing up in Alberta, Angela Whyte thought that she would be the next great Canadian point guard. But instead of basketball, she found her athletic future in track and field. Whyte enjoyed a dominant collegiate career, becoming a four-time All-American and five-time Big West champion at the University of Idaho while recording 13 school records. In her Olympic debut at Athens 2004, Whyte was nervous the night before her race. She called her father, who told her she belonged there. She ended up as Canada’s top finisher in the 100m hurdles with her sixth place result. Whyte returned to the Olympic Games at Beijing 2008 after undergoing knee surgery earlier in the year. A three-time medallist at the Commonwealth Games, Whyte also has two medals from the Pan American Games. She has competed at six editions of the IAAF World Championships in Athletics since making her debut in 2001. She reached the 100m hurdles final twice, with an eighth place finish in 2007 and a sixth place finish in 2013. She finished fifth in the 60m hurdles at the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships. Whyte was a co-captain of the Canadian athletics team at Rio 2016.

Getting to know…

Family: Parents Evert Whyte and Gail Dick… Brothers Eddie and Andrew… Getting into the Sport: Started running organized track in junior high school before focusing on it in university… Her father ran track in Jamaica and always had it on TV; she liked watching him enjoy track and field… Outside Interests: Enjoys reading philosophy and non-fiction during her downtime, as well as watching documentaries and track and field videos… Loves nerdy things… Spends the off-season relaxing and playing other sports… Assistant track and field coach at Washington State University after coaching at the University of Idaho for six years… Earned her Master’s degree from the University of Idaho in 2014 after graduating with a degree in crime and justice studies in 2003… Odds and Ends: On race day, distracts herself from thinking about the race by watching mindless videos that make her laugh… Nickname: Whytie…